Ball lock corny reassembly

Last night I refurbed my first ball lock corny. Everything was pretty easy except getting the bent dip tube to have the tip into the middle of the little well at the bottom. Whenever I would tighten the post-fitting the dip tube would rotate and the tip would wedge itself against the bottom bowl part of the tank (but not in the well).

I also thought it was too close to the bottom so I cut a little bit off and at an angle so it draws in from the side instead of drawing up from the bottom. But even doing that it still would rotate and make contact with part of the bottom. I ended up cutting even more off and it actually came out really nice but...how do you keep that bent dip tube from rotating while tightening the post fitting?

I've only had pin lock kegs before and those have straight dip tubes so I've never encountered this.

you hold it or over compensate for it.

I have the swmbo reach down in there and hold it while I tighten it down.

I orient the tube too far to the opposite side so that when I tighten the post down the tube corrects itself.

I chop mine off and don't worry about it.

Thanks.

My arms are just skinny enough to fit down in there...there was no 'holding' this tube. It was turning no matter how tightly I tried to hold it in place.

Regarding 'overcompensating for it'...there wasn't enough room to do that. You could only rotate it a tiny, tiny bit before it was wedged in to the bowl part of the tank (but outside the little well at the bottom). It rotated way too much for that to work...at first. After I cut it the second time it was short enough to do this and doing this PLUS attermpting to hold it as tightly as I could...that got it.

Maybe this dip tube was longer than usual? Before the first time I cut it, this dip tube went all the way down into that well...just right off the bottom of it. Even after the first cut it was still down into that well. Just 1/16 of a turn would put it all cock-eyed and outta whack.

I've never heard of it actually being a problem. Sure it hits the side of the keg. But it doesn't affect anything.

Both the kegs I purchased came off the pepsi line. They both had the dip tubes hitting the side of the keg.

I just let it snug up against the bottom/side of the keg, doesn't need to be in the exact middle.

Do all of you have frankenstein cornies? The correct diptube in a cornelius has a locating ridge that prevents rotation. Firestone kegs don't have this ridge but they use straight dipstubes and the bottom of the keg dimple is elongated to the side of the keg so rotation doesn't matter. I have never cut my diptubes, I want every drop of beer goodness in my kegs. I have only had flow problems in one keg and that was due to me putting the wrong popitt in the bev connector.( I have all three brand of kegs and I mixed up the parts the first time around)

Do all of you have frankenstein cornies?

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Mine might be. Mine had one post fitting with that 'star-pattern' for the hex (so you have to use a 12-point socket) and the other post fitting was a regular hex. The poppets looked similar but slightly different. There was no 'locating ridge' or 'indexing ridge' or whatever...the dip tube, post fitting, and the welded fitting on the tank all had a smooth circumference. To be honest, I couldn't remember which poppet went with which post-fitting...but the thing seals tight the way I did it.

Firestone kegs don't have this ridge but they use straight dipstubes and the bottom of the keg dimple is elongated to the side of the keg so rotation doesn't matter.

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My old pin-locks might be a Firestones...they have the straight dip tube and the well is offset to one side. But the post-fittings look like they have the poppets crimped in there or something...they're not coming out.

FWIW, the ball-locks were purchased so I could fit 6 in my new keezer and this is the first one I tore down. The shorter, stubbier pin-locks wouldn't fit 6 in there (too big diameter). The pin-locks are going to now be my lager secondaries so I can carbonate naturally.

You '12 point' notched one should go on the gas in with the short dip tube; You'll be cursing trying to pull the connects off otherwise. All of my cornies do have a dip in the middle of the bottom of the keg- Unbend your tube a little so that when you put it in the whole way, you have tension on it (Yes I said UNBEND)- It will stay in the center as you tighten.

Thanks...that's the way it is right now.

The other 3 ball-locks have only the hex fittings...no 12-point stars on any of them. Of the 4 kegs there was only one 12-point fitting total.

FYI id they are not 12 points, they should have notches to denote gas/in poppet. If not, I would park them some how. They are a pain to get off if you put them on the wrong post. Enjoy the draft HB!

The ridge at the bottom of the post is the best way to ID in and out. In posts have a narrow ridge and out posts have a wide ridge. The threads are different on both posts so care should be taken to make sure you put the posts on the right side. Also the threads are different between the various brands so only clean one keg at a time to prevent mixups on the posts. I have found that the yellow Corneilus poppits fit 95% of the posts I have.

Oh I gotchya. Some cornies have the ridges in the post section that make you align the dip tube, some don't (at least that is the case in my collection).

It depends on the brand manufacturer. Cornelius has the locating ridges on the curved dip tube, Firestone has straight tubes with a side well in the bottom of the keg and I don't remember on Challanger brand. The brand is engraved(stamped) on the side of the keg. The post ridges are what lock the connectors on and are dependant on in and out. In and out posts are determined by the ridge on the bottom of the post. (so many ridges, keg and diptube, connector in and out.) I hope I expalined it clearly.

Cornelius has the locating ridges on the curved dip tube, Firestone has straight tubes with a side well in the bottom of the keg and I don't remember on Challanger brand

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As it turns out; only one of four of these kegs I got is a Cornelius, just so happened to be the first one I refurbed. Two of the remaining three are Challenger (made by Firestone) and one Challenger has the side well and the other does not (they look identical from the top, same post fittings/etc.). I dunno if this is 'stock' but both of these Challengers had plastic Gas In dip tubes.

EDIT: Just remembered that one Challenger said 'Challenger VI' and the other just said 'Challenger'.

The last one is what looks like a really old style Firestone. This one is gonna be a ***** to refurb because it's very different from the others. The Gas In dip tube is also plastic but it's different than the plastic ones in the Challengers. There are also some weird looking spacers inside the post fittings.

Time to get creative.

I also noticed that 3/4 of mine have plastic diptubes and I've had to fuss getting them to seal. They all had pressure when they arrived from being shipped, but when i fill them I get some bubbling out the OUT post. I have 2 in the keezer now holding pressure nod bubbling the OUT Post, but I think I'm just going to order 4 new sets of poppits and orings and start from scratch with them so i know they're all ok. and Stainless gas dip tubes to replace the plastic.

SpanishCastleAle said:

As it turns out; only one of four of these kegs I got is a Cornelius, just so happened to be the first one I refurbed. Two of the remaining three are Challenger (made by Firestone) and one Challenger has the side well and the other does not (they look identical from the top, same post fittings/etc.). I dunno if this is 'stock' but both of these Challengers had plastic Gas In dip tubes.

EDIT: Just remembered that one Challenger said 'Challenger VI' and the other just said 'Challenger'.

The last one is what looks like a really old style Firestone. This one is gonna be a ***** to refurb because it's very different from the others. The Gas In dip tube is also plastic but it's different than the plastic ones in the Challengers. There are also some weird looking spacers inside the post fittings.

Time to get creative.

Click to expand...

Williamsbrewing.com has the spacers for $1 apiece. I'm working on refurbing one of these ancient beasts too.

Irregular Pulse,
I'm not following you. The plastic Gas In dip tubes are for the IN but you said you're getting leakage from the OUT posts. The OUT posts are for the long dip tubes (which were stainless in mine).

If the leakage is from UNDER the post then it's not the poppet. If it were the poppet it would leak out the top of the post.

bottle-o-jeff,
Thanks for that. They're out of stock but at least they're available. Per that website, the plastic Gas In dip tubes are no longer made. I'm gonna try a regular ole piece of 37 degree flared SS tubing, 1/4" OD (I already tried slipping it in there and it fits but still don't know how well it will seal). EDIT: Ooops, got my kegs messed up. The 37 degree flared tubing is for the Challenger kegs, not this one.

If you do some searching on the forum, you'll find that some people have had success with using a SS gas tube in place of the plastic ones. However, you do have to drill out the hole a little so that it will fit. I'd post a link, but I'm on my phone at work.

+1 I've read that as well; luckily all of my 8 cornies are SS tubes with the indent in the center for alignment...

Thanks. I think I'm gonna just use the plastic ones this time and keep my eyes peeled for solutions. I found some oddball gaskets that are the perfect size for the Challengers but they are soft silicon rubber...maybe too soft...we'll see.

That 1/4" tube is soooooo close to fitting down into the old style Firestone.